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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>It’s
me again – Norm!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Today
was the nicest weather we have had here in southeast Michigan for a long
time. It was a balmy 25 degrees and Mom kicked us all outside for a while
today. She said we needed to *<b>blow off some steam</b>* but the only
steam I saw was from us breathing. But anyway – we were outside,
sniffing around the yard, checking for poopsicles that Dad had missed, Johnny
was looking for sticks buried in the snow, Opie was looking for snowballs
buried in the snow, and I was watching the squirrels. Well, I must have
been standing really still and one of the squirrels must of thought I was a
statue or something. That silly squirrel came right down the tree, ran
around the tree trunk and hopped to the ground right in front of my nose.
So, I thought, hmmm – maybe he wants to play. I wagged my
tail. He wagged his tail. I wiggled my nose. He wiggled his
nose. I twitched my whiskers. He twitched his whiskers. I
barked! Oh my goodness, I thought I was going to be wearing one of those
squirrel hats with a long tail. That squirrel jumped straight up into the
air! I thought he had a heart attack or something. Anyway, he
called his brothers over to the tree and they all started jumping around,
playing tag and having fun. Dang – those guys are fast. We
tried to play tag with them, but they cheat! They go up in the
trees. Since we had such fun, I decided that my poem of the week should
be about our playmates, the squirrels. Hope you like it!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Squirrels<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Squirrels<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Playing
tag<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Leaping
from tree to tree<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Teasing
us<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Playmates<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>Drools to ya!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>Norm (and the rest of the Red Bay Gang)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>Grady, Hoagie, Johnny & Opie<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>Sandi Wittenberg - Mom to the Red Bay Basset Boys<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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